I think it’s time to start cutting the numbers of U.S. troops in Iraq.  Until recently, I held on to the idea that there were still many good reasons for the Americans to remain in Iraq.  I stuck up for and agreed with most of President Bush’s policies concerning the war.  Lately, however, I’ve begun to have a change of heart.  I’ve seen programs on TV, like Off to War on the Military Channel, which follow troops around as they go about their daily business in Iraq.  I’ve seen other programs that aren’t newscasts from American news programs.  I’ve read articles in magazines and on the internet about various aspects of the situation in Iraq.  After sorting it all out, I’m coming to the conclusion that we don’t need to be putting thousands of Americans in the most dangerous place on the planet.  I haven’t forgotten the part that America has played in making this place so dangerous.  I saw or heard a survey taken in Iraq that says 5 out of 6 Iraqis want the Americans to leave their country. Iraqi consent has turned into intolerance.  U.S. troops and their allies are increasingly becoming targets.  There are at least 300,000 Iraqis that belong to the Iraqi police force.  Iraqis need to start playing a far larger role in their country’s security.  I saw on the news that the U.S. is going to maintain 120,000 to 150,000 troops in Iraq for the next 4 years.  I think this is too many.

This war is costing the U.S. too much.  I believe the human sacrifice is becoming too great when you consider the results we’re getting.  It’s costing us billions of dollars and now we have the burden of a massive budget deficit.  The Americans are hated all over the world now more than ever before.

Bush went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan in hopes of bringing democracy to these two countries.  This would put democratic countries at the “front door” and at the “back door” of Iran.  The idealistic next step would be that people of Iran would start to bend towards the idea of democracy and BOOM!  We now have a peaceful, stable and democratic Middle East.  Well, it’s not happening and I don’t think it ever will.  All we have seem to have done is to stir up a very large hornet’s nest.  What a major over-estimation that idea was.  To me, that’s pretty embarrassing. 

Bush needs to admit to his mistakes and his over/under-estimations of the democratization of the Middle East. You can’t force a country to become democratic.  We need big policy changes.  Maybe it is time for the democrats to take the lead in Washington.  I can’t believe I just said that.   

As we live out our lives on this planet, maybe we humans should quit saying that we are doing God's will, or saying that God told us to act violently in search of peace. What if we put humanity above the word of God? Is that blasphemous? It shouldn't be. God didn't instruct us to do "it" and certainly the devil didn't make us do "it." When did we stop taking responsibility for our own actions?

I think many religions hold elements of truth.  What is true to some is not to others.  I think before we act in the name of God we should first think about how our actions will impact others’ lives.  I think if we were to take a more humanistic approach (showing kindness and compassion while acknowledging our weaknesses) maybe violence would decrease.  When we are wronged we seem to become obsessed with seeking revenge.  Many times it is not necessary to obtain retribution in an unfair situation. It’s better to just walk away and let anger evaporate.  Hindsight often shows how trivial an unfair situation was and how it can be better to just defuse it by taking no action at all.  Obviously, not all situations can be simply ignored. 

In my opinion, what takes away from the human experience and makes it miserable, painful, impoverished etc. can be labeled as inherently evil in the sense that it is profoundly immoral, wrong, or harmful.  It seems that the more a religious person becomes a fundamentalist, the more he starts taking all scriptures literally.  I don’t believe that all religious gospels, whether it’s found in the Christian or Jewish Bibles or the Muslim’s Koran, can be completely interpreted in a literal sense.  Many of these scriptures are allegorical and must be taken figuratively.  Also, many of the scriptures are now archaic and do not fit into modern thought and behavior.  These facts do not make the gospels less holy or less important.

In conclusion, I feel like I am a spiritual person regardless of any church.  I believe in scriptures like the Ten Commandments.  I also believe in the Golden Rule.  To really sum things up, and to conclude on a happier note, the following is an excerpt from the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, by Robert Fulghum:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Wonder.  Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup:  The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup—they all die. So do we.

And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word you learned—the biggest word of all—LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.  The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation.  Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.  Think what a better world it would be if we all—the whole world—had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap.  Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are—when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together. 

                                          __________________

Maybe that’s the answer.  If we all reverted to our Kindergarten education—where politics, ethnicity, and religion were still unknown or vague concepts; maybe this old world would be more peaceful and prosperous and happy and meaningful.  It doesn’t hurt to dream a little.

Is World War III on the horizon?  With terrorism becoming an ever increasing threat that can possibly lead to eventual global destruction, I can’t help but wonder how close we are to the next world war.  How close are we to total annihilation of life on this planet?  Countries like Iran want to continue to enrich uranium for what they say is for peaceful reasons like nuclear power plants.  At the same time, the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinjad, describes Israel as “a dried up and rotten tree which will be annihilated with one storm.”  A few months ago, President Ahmadinjad called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”

      America:  Land of the Free BECAUSE of the Brave.

Sometimes…no, most of the time, life, not to mention love is a battlefield.  From the minute a human being is born and struggles for that first breath, the war is on.  Childhood becomes the training ground before one is shipped off into adulthood.  Sometimes the battle comes to the child before the child has completed his or her basic training for the war of the adults.  The poor kid is deployed to the front prematurely.  Childhood is over too soon.  Luckily, my childhood was one of the most untroubled and happy times of my life.  Adulthood would be another matter.

After I graduated from high school, I think my first battle started when I began to fight for my right to party.  I won…with a little help from my friends.  Of course winning the first battle of my young adult life caused me to become over-confident.  I thought I was invincible.  I could go to Salt Lake City and out disco dance anyone (this was in the late 70s and early 80s).  I always partied like it was 1999…every weekend.  Back then, my weekend started on Thursday.  On Monday, I would go to work—a little dazed—but on time.  I would spend the morning hours in quiet recovery.  By lunch, I was good to go.

After fighting for my party rights for a decade, I realized that battle had long since been won.  That war was over.  It was time to settle down, get married…wrong.  Little did I know that my perfect white wedding had one small flaw:  I MARRIED THE WRONG PERSON.  As a result, my marriage more resembled a combat mission.  It was 1991.  As a joke, a friend of mine gave me a helmet as a wedding gift.  He wore it in the Desert Storm battle of the Persian Gulf war.   He put a flower in the strap.  Little did I know, this gesture was a harbinger of one of the biggest battles that were yet to be fought.  It became my own personal Bunker Hill.  It was a six-year war…or a 2,200-day war.  Either way it did come to an end.  I didn’t feel very triumphant; however, I did feel relieved. 

There were the minor skirmishes that have kicked up throughout the years.  Creepy friends and deadbeat boyfriends fight for my time, energy, and limited resources.  I can’t really consider these incidents full-fledged battles.  Most of these situations were settled with diplomacy.  I had to strongly, yet subtly suggest that it was time for these particular people to get the hell out of my life…NOW.  Thank-you and have a nice life…now git!  

Just when I thought my life was safe, the darkest time of my life appeared.  It was my “Dark Age.”  I had a falling out with my father and as a result, I was banished to a lonely emotional desert for five years.  It was the worst loss that I had suffered to date.  I felt despised like a traitor.  One day, I was asked a question by someone in a group session I was attending, “Would you rather be right or loved?”  This question got me thinking.  Why do we go around seeking justice and fairness in family situations when that is not what matters?  From that day on, I quit feeling that life was so unfair.  Then, inexplicably, my banishment ended.  I was welcomed back into my family.  The renaissance of my life was now dawning.

Today, my life is relatively peaceful.  I still experience some daily warfare.  This includes the battle of the bulge, battling rush-hour traffic, the battle to stay young—or at least healthy, and the battle to hold onto my peaceful existence.  I also am at war with the weeds that threaten to consume my flower gardens and tomatoes.  I continue to battle for knowledge and I doubt this campaign will ever end.  As time goes on I will have to confront my fears like the fear of public speaking and the fear of death.  It was mentioned on a TV commercial that these fears are number one and two among most Americans.  I agree with that statistic.  

War, HUH, what is it good for…absolutely nothin’.   Hey, does anyone remember who sang that song?  Did you catch the other five references to hit songs from the 70s and 80s that I mentioned?  If not, you're either a lot older than I am or considerably younger.  I'll give you a few hints:  Pat Benatar, Beastie Boys, Beatles, Prince, Billy Idol.  

When Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his farewell speech as he left the office of the President of the United States in 1961, he urged the necessity of maintaining an adequate military strength, but cautioned that vast, long-continued military expenditures could breed potential dangers to our way of life.  He concluded with a prayer for peace.  He was also responsible for coining the term, “military industrial complex.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower was a five-star general in World War II and was opposed to dropping the two atom-bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  President, Harry S. Truman very much wanted to drop the atom-bombs on Japan, even though it appeared that Japan was showing signs of weakness.  President Truman wanted to show off America’s strength and to frighten Stalin and other world leaders.  The insidious threat of Communism had to be fought against.  The decision was made for America to remain militaristic and be present in every corner of the planet.  Since the end of World War II and still to this day, America wants to maintain global dominance.  Most Americans, however, do not want to be the police of the world…but if not us, who else will?  Is there a multi-national force that can handle this task, sharing equally the responsibilities that come with it?

The 1950s are often portrayed as a happy and carefree time in U.S. history. In reality, it was the beginning of a very dangerous time.  It was the beginning of the Cold War.  Military defense budgets doubled and tripled.  It was during the Eisenhower administration that we began to see military programs that were out of control.  More money is spent on defense than the discretionary spending on all other programs combined.

What is the military industrial complex?  It is the military, congress, defense contractors, and the more recent development of “think tanks.”  Think tanks are private entities hired to analyze and research situations that affect national security.  They are an integral part and very influential in the decisions made on defense issues.  What is alarming is that policy is being made by people with zero accountability. 

Today, the military is increasingly supported by private military companies.  It’s big business.  The service sector is completely contracted out, where in the past; this was all handled by soldiers.  There is also fierce product competition among contractors such as Boeing, McDonald Douglas, and Lockheed Martin.  This competition makes available the best technology possible to the troops.  It is difficult to phase anything out because every state in the union has a piece of the defense industry.   It’s easy to see how all of this can lead to corruption.  When war is profitable, do we have more wars?  I wonder how can we better expose and protect ourselves from corruption. 

Why are we fighting?  When ten average Americans are asked this question, you get ten different answers.  Some say it's for freedom, some say it’s for oil, many others have no idea.

Here are some cold, hard facts:

--America uses 20 million barrels of oil per day, vastly more than any other country.

--Iraq is second only to Saudi Arabia in oil reserves.

--America is building 14 permanent bases in Iraq,

--America is hopelessly dependant and addicted to oil.  

--Oil drives the military machine.

Is America a force for good spreading freedom and democracy all over the world or is America a force for imperialism?  Maybe I am naive, but I still believe that America is a force for good.  There is no better system of government than democracy.  What would happen if America was not the superpower of the planet?  Would this planet be more at peace?  Would there be less violence and oppression?  For now, I’m glad that these questions cannot be answered.  I fear the answers would be a clear and unequivocal NO.

The war in Iraq is costing the Americans dearly.  Lives have been lost.  Billions of dollars have been spent.  Terrorism is still a huge and ever-growing threat.  It can’t be ignored.  Everyone knows that turning a blind eye never solves anything.  I, for one, do not want to sit here and wait for terrorists to come to my town.  Preemptive strikes, where ever it is necessary, now have to be considered made apparent by the events of 9/11.

Before you jump into your big fat SUV or 3/4-ton truck to go to a war protest rally, I suggest you stop and think.  Aren’t you apart of the problem in this country that activates the military industrial complex to seek out the resources to keep our lifestyles intact that we all have become accustom to?   It is America, in which you live.  You do have the freedom to speak your mind and you have the freedom to assemble.  Before you go out that door, however, stop and take a look in the mirror.  Don’t forget how your freedom and your lifestyle was acquired. 

God bless the American troops and their families.  They have my deepest gratitude for their work and sacrifice.  Thank-you for the independence and the freedom that I enjoy living in America.

Happy Father's Day

This is a photo I took on a rafting trip of the Colorado River.  My father and I took this trip together a few years ago.  It was a great experience.  We spent six days on a white-water rafting adventure.  There were calm waters and there were very turbulent "white" water rapids as we made our way deeper into the canyon.  We traveled about 185 miles total.  We saw an amazing and ever-changing scenery of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River.  At the end, we were scooped up by a helicopter, taken to an airstrip in the middle of nowhere where a small airplane awaited and we were flown back to where we started, a place called Lee's Ferry.  It was an unforgettable experience and I am so grateful that I got to share it with my father.  A few years later, I added some words to this photo and turned it into a Father's Day card for my dad. 

Happy Father's Day to all the dads.  It is true when I say to my father:  "You gave me my eyes to see and then you took me to beautiful places." 

In the year 1807, Spain became involved in warfare with France.  During the Napoleonic Wars of 1799-1815, Spain was pressured to join the French in a war against Britain.  Napoleon also sent an army to attack Portugal, an ally of Britain.  From 1810 to 1814, the absence of control from Spain gave many Creoles (American-born Spanish colonists) their first taste of self-government.  The frustration of the Spanish Americans was fueled by the intellectual movement from the "Age of Enlightenment" which emphasized science and reason.  The "Enlightenment" challenged political and social institutions such as monarchy, religion, mercantilism, and class distinctions.  Also, the American Revolution (1775-1783) and the French Revolution (1789-1799) provided an example for the Spanish American colonists.

Independence was won from Spain for the Spanish American colonies and from Portugal for Brazil in 1824.  When independence was realized, the Spanish colonies and Brazil found themselves ill-prepared to function effectively.  Because of the colonial system, their economies were not diversified, roads and ports were not developed, and their people lacked experience at representative government.  They became divided over the roles that government and the church should play in the new nations.

Under Mexico's first constitution of 1824, the territories of Coahuila and Texas were established as one Mexican state.  The central government of Mexico City had enormous difficulty exercising direct control over events in these northern regions of the country due to problems like civil war and religious turmoil.

By the 1830s, the population of Mexican Texas included many immigrants from the United States.  These Anglo-American colonists were angry over Mexican attempts to deny autonomy to Texas and were unhappy with a colonization law that prevented immigration from the United States into Texas.  These "Texans" were also wary of Catholic laws and customs.  In 1835 they revolted and established Texas as an independent republic.  Among the battles for the independence of Texas was the famous battle at The Alamo.  When hostilities ceased, Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna agreed to withdraw his troops across the Rio Grande and recognize the independence of Texas.  The Mexican Congress rejected the agreement, however, was in no position to retake Texas by force.  The Lone Star Republic, as it was known, remained independent from 1836 to 1845, when the United States Congress approved a joint resolution annexing Texas.  Mexico considered this annexation an act of aggression, and the Mexican diplomat in Washington, D.C., broke off negotiations and went home. 

In May 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico and began a three-part offensive designed to seize land in the Southwest.  In the meantime, U.S. settlers in northern California had revolted against Mexican rule in June of 1846, before news of the declaration of war had even reached them. Led by Colonel John C. Fremont, the settlers captured a fort at Sonoma, north of San Francisco.  On July 7, 1846, naval commodore John D. Sloat, commander of U.S. naval forces along the Pacific Coast, ordered the U.S. flag raised at Monterey, south of San Francisco, and formally claimed California for the United States. A few days later, U.S. forces occupied the port of San Francisco.  In January, 1847, U.S. forces attacked and recaptured Los Angeles, forcing the surrender of hundreds of Mexicans and effectively ending Mexican resistance in California.

The Mexican War added substantial territory to the United States. Not counting Texas, which had been annexed by the United States prior to the war, the victory increased the area of the country by approximately 66 percent.  The United States paid Mexico an indemnity of $15 million and assumed over $3 million in claims that U.S. citizens had against the Mexican government.  The West, including the Southwest, would become a source of basic resources and a market for industrial goods from the industrialized northeast.

In 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in northern California, launching the California gold rush. Silver mines were opened in Nevada, while copper began to be mined in Arizona and Utah at the turn of the century. In the mid-20th century New Mexico's and Utah's uranium mines became important for the production of atomic power. San Diego and San Francisco, blessed with two of the best natural harbors in the world, would soon host major U.S. naval facilities. These lands, plus investments in health, education, and machines, helped sustain U.S. economic growth between the American Civil War and World War I (1914-1918).

The Mexican heritage was more tragic. Mexicans mourned the loss of so much territory and many developed a profound distrust of U.S. citizens, as well as a fear of further "Yankee" imperialism. The chaos of war unleashed several political revolts and Native American rebellions in Mexico.*

It has been said that today's immigration problems that the United States is experiencing with Mexico may be retribution.  It has been theorized that this may be one way that the Mexicans can eventually regain what was perceived to be unfairly taken from them over 150 years ago.

I am not offering answers to today's immigration problems and the border issues the United States is having with Mexico.  I only offer a bit of history.  It was not that long ago when U.S. citizens were illegally immigrating to the Mexican state of Texas and other Mexican territories.  The Mexican government was in a quandary as to how to stop the inflow of Anglo-American colonists.  History is always repeating itself and this I find fascinating.

* This information was extracted from the Encarta Encyclopedia 

In our busy, fast paced lives, we rush about trying to live up to commitments and goals.  We've got families to look after and bills to pay.  We try hard to do the best we can and often feel under valued or unappreciated.  Sometimes life seems unfair.  Life hands us some awesome burdens.  Sometimes we fall down.  Other times we persevere and make it to the other side which is accomplishment.

No matter what, time marches on.  It seems to accelerate. One day, we seem to awaken to a strange new world.  We look around and wonder what happened?  Where did all of the time go?  All of the children have suddenly grown up.  Not one, but two decades have come and gone.  There goes another one.  This year is my thirty-year high school reunion.  What?!?  I don't think I want to go.  My life is pretty good now, but I don't feel like contrasting and comparing my life to my former high school associates.  I could go just to see how fat and bald everyone has become--like looking at a train wreck.  Nah, I'll pass. 

As I sit here and reflect upon my life thus far, I know that despite my choices and because of them, it has brought me to this moment.  I am a fortunate human being.  I've had ups and I have had downs.  Throughout all of the times both good and not so good, I have always had the love and support of my parents.  When I was younger and "smarter" than them and disregarded their advice, they shook their heads in quiet frustration.  When they were proven right and I realized too late that I should have listened and heeded their advice, they did scold me somewhat.  Then they hugged me. 

Today, my life is a quiet, comfortable calm.  The married life didn't work out but that's OK.  It was only a decade ago when I was feeling like I fell into a vortex of a massive tornado. Marriage, work, and family were all in upheaval.  Now, for the first time in my life, I own all twenty-four hours of each and every day.  I give of my time to whom I choose.  No one is taking from or interfering with my journey.  All hangers-on have let go.  Sometimes, one has to face the fact that some friends are not really friends.  If I didn't give them a home to live in, or daily meals to eat, or a nice car to travel in, or a cell phone to communicate with, would they still be my friend?  Sadly, no; they would not.  It's better to be alone than to allow people to cling to you for what you can give to them--materially speaking.  It's just another dysfunctional relationship.  If I can't find a true friend that just wants me but doesn't need me, then count me out.  Maybe I'm getting a little stingy with my precious time in my "old" age.

Anyway, my point is this:  Every day is a gift.  The older I get, the more aware of this fact I have become.  Now that my life has again opened up to new possibilities, I look forward to it.  I want to quicken my pace in my quest for knowledge.  I want to increase my strength in not being a reactive person.  There is no good reason to lose my temper anywhere; whether I'm driving down the road and encountering impatient or inept motorists, or dealing with a neighbor who has "issues."

I may sound like a hopeless romantic or overly idealistic.  I do think it's a good idea to take pause and see that life is beyond beautiful.  The opportunity to give love and to be loved is beyond what words can describe. You must find the time to reintroduce yourself to you.  Everyone should find a quiet moment and think on these things. Some people can see beauty all around them; others can not see the beauty of anything at all.  If one recognizes the beauty that exists in an ice crystal, a ray of sunlight, a smile on a child's face, or the immensity of the universe; maybe one will discover the meaning of life.

It's good to discuss the issues of the day like immigration, rising oil prices, the costly Iraqi war, an unpopular president, etc.  I am a news junkie, I must confess.  I like to know what's happening in the world; however, there are times when I feel like I'm in overload.  It's the same feeling when I've been dining out at too many fast food restaurants and all the burgers and tacos taste unappealingly the same.  In today's world of cable news like CNN, Fox, and MSNBC, it's great to have this 24 hour-a-day access, but it's easy to become desensitized.  Sometimes, you just have to get up, turn off the TV and look away.  You've got to do something else; think on other things.  What am I leading to?  It's the height of spring.  I am compelled to turn my attention to one of my favorite hobbies: gardening.  It's time to plant flowers and vegetables all over in every available space of my yard!

Everyone knows how good home-grown tomatoes are.  That's a must along with zucchini, peppers, chives and other yummy stuff.

What can I plant in my front yard to dazzle my senses as well as my neighbors?  I know: lots and lots of sunflowers.  Do you how many different varieties of sunflowers there are?    Besides the standard yellow sunflowers that seem to grow wild in the fields, there are the mammoths, dark-maroon Mexicans, the creamy-white Italians, the teddy bears, the California sunbursts and many more.  They range from three feet tall to twelve feet tall.  

In the middle of my front lawn I always plant a big circular area of sunflowers from seeds.  I'm always worried that nothing will grow and then always amazed that, in about two months, I've got all these magnificent flowers towering over my head.  I love the time when they are in full bloom.  My collection of sunflowers reminds me of an audience at a rock concert.  Just before the sun comes out in the morning, all of the sunflowers are looking up and to the east in eager anticipation--just like an audience at a rock concert when it starts to hear the band warming up on their guitars before the spotlights come on.  There are murmurs and chanting from the audience. The electricity created by excitement becomes palpable.  I'll watch my sunflowers get that same electric thrill just before the first ray beams over the mountain peak.  Next, there are a couple of explosions and bright strobe lights flash on both sides of the stage and the band starts playing one of the greatest riffs of all time.  The audience jumps into an ecstatic, standing ovation. The music, the lights, and the pyrotechnics are awesome.  Now that's entertainment.  Just like the rock band's audience, my sunflowers are waiting, facing the east--except for one or two idiots in the back who are facing the opposite way and looking down.  It's as if they just don't get it. They're distracted by their own misery or they are denying the existence of the sun.  It's weird, but it's true.  The first rays of the sun spill over the mountain peak.  Morning has broken.  My sunflowers go wild. They applaud the arrival of the sun with a standing ovation like it's the first time they have ever seen the sun.  Their happy faces follow the sun in awe and in unison as it continues to rise and pass overhead until it sinks below the western horizon.  Wow, I do love gardening and no, I haven't been smoking any "wacky tobaccy."

It's good to take a vacation from the trials and tribulations of every day life even if it's only in your head...or in your sunflower garden in the front yard. 

I'm feeling better already, but man do I have the "munchies." I think I'll run up to Wendy's and get me a burger combo with a frosty, biggie sized, of course.  I wonder what's on TV?

Yes indeed, life IS grand.

I just got through watching the movie, Flight 93, on A&E. It's the story of the brave passengers and crew aboard hijacked United Airlines' Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. After learning of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, these ordinary civilians chose to fight back against the terrorists.  They were just 20 minutes from Washington DC when the heroic actions of these Americans likely prevented the terrorists from crashing the jet into the White House or the U.S. Capitol.  Instead the flight went down in rural Pennsylvania.  I don't think I could have watched it in a theater because I find it a lot easier to openly sob and shed tears in the privacy of my own home.  This is a very well-made movie as well as respectful to the victims of 9/11 and their families.  I think every one should take time to view this movie.  It's such a good reminder of how great these Americans were and how heroic they became as they were made aware of the events of that horrific day.

It's been almost five years now since that terrifying day in September.  I was watching TV at the moment that programming was interrupted with the breaking news of the airlines crashing into the first tower.  I saw the second jet crash into the South tower as it happened and was glued to the TV as the third jet crashed into the Pentagon.  I was still watching when it was reported that a fourth jet crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside.  I couldn't leave my house and TV set for the next week.  I knew this would be both a defining moment in time and also a dividing point.  Every thing is now either "pre-9/11"or "post-9/11."  This dividing line is not just American; it is global. 

Every time I see a movie that shows the Manhattan skyline that includes the World Trade Center towers, I take pause.  In "pre-9/11" times, I was not aware how often the towers showed up in movies.   It was a symbol of America as ubiquitous as other symbols like the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore.

Let's not forget the horrors of terrorism.   As Americans, we must continue to pur